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User blog:Drayco90/Game Review- Asura's Wrath
Asura’s Wrath is a very polarizing experience, and while it may not stand as a great “game”, it is a brilliantly unique experience worth trying. Easily the worst aspect of Asura’s Wrath is the experience of playing it outside of the infamous quicktime events. That’s not to say that the gameplay in Asura’s Wrath is bad per se, but it’s not great, and often feels like something you slog through to get to more of the glorious madness that makes up the game’s bread and butter. Occasionally players will take control in action game segments where they battle packs of monstrous creatures and divine foes. The actual system is fairly shallow- once you get the mechanics down, you’ll find a few combos you can rely on, but it’s not a system that offers much experimentation to create new combat styles. While the single melee button will be Asura’s main tactic in these action segments, there is also a ranged attack system allowing Asura to fire a shotgun-like projectile burst from his hand, or hold down and fire a long range barrage of machine-gun like fire. Spending enough time in this combat allows you to build two meters on your gauge- the lesser of the two, the Unlimited Mode meter, allows Asura to transform into a glowing super-powered version of himself, increasing his speed and attack power, while reducing incoming damage. It’s rarely helpful, but when it’s in use it allows you to unleash a strong attack as many times as you want, a powerful and often AoE strike that normally requires a lengthy cooldown between uses. The real reason you’re attacking in these sections is actually to build up your second meter- the Burst meter. Upon filling the burst meter, Asura will transition the game back into the quicktime events. This method of handling combat would be unacceptable if this game’s draw was actually the action sequences, but as they stand they are simply a fairly amusing way to transition from scene to scene. It doesn’t have the depth of a Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, nor does it feature the visceral thrill of a God of War, but it’s satisfying and to the point, and there’s a purity to that. The other main “deviation” from the primary source of the gameplay is by far the most unexpected. As frequently as Asura will face down a pack of monsters in battle, he will transition into an insane on-the-rails shooter ala Panzer Dragoon. Using his combat mode’s projectile attacks to effect, the player will fly about the environment firing machine gun like rapid fire and lock-on rockets. These moments are incredibly rudimentary, offering no depth and are far more repetitive than the action segments…but they manage to keep themselves entertaining throughout from sheer spectacle. It’s never difficult or engaging from a mechanical level to face down an entire fleet of godly spaceships or firing on a massive stone Buddha, but the overwhelming amount of things happening on screen are enough to keep the player entertained throughout the relatively short sequences. Finally, both of these gameplay elements come together in harmony during the boss battles. While mildly amusing distractions at their best moments when on their own, when the game takes you into a one-on-one encounter with another deity is when the gameplay is able to actually shine. While the combat is still rudimentary and lacking in depth, there is just enough in the fights to provide for fun encounters, mixed with varied boss stages allowing for a single battle to span several incredible phases and topped off by the awe of the pure spectacle, Asura’s Wrath’s boss battles provide some of the most memorable moments of the year. While the term gameplay may not apply so well to it, the meat of Asura’s Wrath is not the action or rail shooter segments above, but the quick-time enhanced cutscenes. On paper, this sounds like a horrible idea- why not just watch the game if there’s not much to play? Ultimately, Asura’s Wrath is a strong argument that “watching” games can be as exhilarating as playing them. The implementation of the quicktime prompts don’t make things happen like in other games, instead it synchronizes your presses with Asura’s movements, enhancing every blow and movement in a way that no other game or anime has ever been able to accomplish, and it’s an experience that is tied directly in how the player interacts with the game. It’s strange, that’s for sure- you’ve never played a game that works quite like Asura’s Wrath, but strange isn’t always a bad thing. There are plenty of reservations to be had about the middling “normal” gameplay thrown in, but the primary mechanic works incredibly well, and what conventional content is there is never below the average of acceptable. 3 out of 5 A game like Asura’s Wrath could easily be excused for not bothering with much in the way of plot, getting by on spectacle of the insanity and style like numerous other franchises, but this is ultimately not the path Wrath decides to take. Asura has a story to tell, and it’s actually a compelling and meaningful tale that can convert even those uninterested in the gameplay or those on-board for “Japanese Weirdness” into invested fans waiting on the edge for every episode. Asura’s Wrath tells the kind of story you’d expect of a game with that name- a story of betrayal, vengeance and redemption, with heavy doses of paternal love and brotherly rivalry. That combination, or at the very least large portions of the presented formula, could easily be said about numerous “triple A” developed titles this generation from Bioshock 2 to God of War 3, but what makes Asura’s Wrath stand out in this regard is the quality with which the game is scripted and directed with clarity and vision. Playing out over three acts and 19 episodes, the game presents itself like an Anime, complete with title cards to cut to “commercial breaks” and “Next time on” segments after each episode. The style takes a few episodes to hit its grove, but once it’s there, it firmly has you wrapped around its finger. The tale is riveting, fantastically paced and incredible in its scale and ambition. The design of the breaks and episode conclusions are placed in such a way that each time they appear they greatly heighten the tension and excitement levels of the player. The story of Asura’s Wrath may be well written, but that is ultimately meaningless in a character-driven piece of fiction if it is unable to craft compelling characters for us to engage with and see through to the end of the quest, and in this area Capcom’s brawler shines. Every single character in the cast is incredibly memorable, fantastically performed and well written. Asura himself sells his rage and grief with perfection, and his personality makes him an incredibly likable character over time, in contrast to other action heroes like Kratos who only become more unlikable as the game continues. His rival, Yasha, follows his own B-Plot and goes through an excellent arc of character development over the journey. The other six deities are distinctly recognizable for their unique designs and varied personalities, and each of them are highly likable in their own ways. Characters like the ridiculous Wyzen and the bombastic Augus provide entertaining and memorable bright spots in a game with an ultimately bleak and somber tale to tell. Beyond that, there’s not much to talk about in the story of Asura’s Wrath. It’s brilliant, engaging, creative, witty, well-paced and packed with exciting and heart-wrenching moments and a colorful cast of some of the most memorable characters in the entire year. One could easily dismiss the game as being a part of one of any derogatory anime stereotypes, but doing so is a great disservice, not just to the game but to the one dismissing it as well, because they are going to miss out on one of the most memorable experiences of 2012 on assumptions. 5 out of 5 Asura’s Wrath is bar none of the best looking games of the year. From a technical standpoint, it may not boast the most photorealistic graphics seen in other games, but what Asura does have is a clear and distinct style, and that style is absolutely gorgeous. Like Journey, Asura’s Wrath is one of the few games that I feel like any stationary image of would make a fantastic wallpaper or poster, because when it’s solid and unmoving, it looks like a hand-made painting. In addition to this however, when the game is in motion, the speed and fluidness of the animation works in tandem with the style of the animation to make every movement of every character a memorable one. A big part of what sells the style is the mastery with which the game’s characters and world is built. The thickness of the lines, the “roughness” for lack of a better word to describe the colors and shading, as if they were sketched in pen and ink, the dynamics of the unique cell-shading style…it all blends together in a gorgeous and unique visual dynamic. The art direction is phenomenal- it may not be the best looking game from a technical standpoint, but CyberConnect takes what they can get out of their engine and whatever timeframes they were working with, and are able to use their distinct style to make everything look great. It helps that the actual character designs are excellent as well- each being as unique and identifiable as their personalities, making each one of them very visually distinct. Similarly, the excellent sound design really sells each impact and strike throughout the game, and the voice acting is phenomenal- using an all-star cast of Anime alumni who clearly have no difficulty selling their roles, Asura’s Wrath is written in a such a way that allow the voice actors to actually have fun with their roles. Throw in one of the best and most varied soundtracks of the year, and you’ve got a solid winner in terms of Presentation. 5 out of 5 Asura’s Wrath lends itself to replayability fairly well. You’ll want to go back and fight boss battles again because they’re just so much fun and are so over the top, and the synchronization gameplay works well to make you want to go back and try things again if you missed a few inputs or if you feel like you could do better. The episodic format also goes to lengths to help in this regard- the episodes are pretty short, if you cut through the solid cutscene parts, which helps you get to the sections you actually want to see in very little time. There’s a fairly routine episode scoring mechanic built in, working exactly the same as the classic “D, C, B, A, S” rank progression score we’ve seen hundreds of times in the past. Asura’s scores are based on your individual scorings on three mechanics throughout the levels- how much time you spend in the gameplay, inspiring you to move quickly through the levels, how well you’ve done in the combat, trying to get you to diversify the number of combos you use and try more advanced tactics more frequently, and how good you are at the synchronization, trying to get you time out as many “excellent” synchs as possible. Hitting Bursts increases your overall score, while dying sharply decreases it, often being enough to knock it down a whole letter grade. It’s functional, and it may inspire you to replay the game more if the game really hooks you, but it’s not compelling on its own, and the rewards for going out of your way to perform well are mostly insignificant- the “True Ending”, which is really just a cliffhanger to be carried on in the DLC episodes, is unlocked by getting a very small number of S-ranks, and a few of the unlockables are hidden behind S-rank number requirements. As you play through the game, you’ll also unlock the standard galleries of concept art- there’s plenty of it for each character, enemy, location and eary designs, and it’s all very nice to look at, but the ease with which it’s unlocked leave little reason to keep playing. Interestingly enough, the game also includes a series of fan-art images which is a very interesting idea and a great way to reach out to the community. Similar to the images, you can unlock viewable 3D models of each major character. Outside of these images, you can unlock Gauges- new designs for Health and Burst bar that add interesting gimmicks to replay the game with. For instance, one Gauge is actually invisible, forcing you to play the game semi-blind, which adds a new, albeit shallow, layer of depth that can make the experience more interesting for a time. The biggest shame with the unlockables is that there simply aren’t a lot of them after you get to the end credits of your first playthrough- most of them are unlocked at the end of each episode. It’s a shame, but hardly a knock on the game itself, and though alternate skins/costumes and more diverse gameplay changers like the “old days” would have been nice, it’s hardly a strike against the game that it doesn’t have a massive checklist of unlockables. What it does have is nothing to write home about, but will add extra enjoyment to someone who loved it the first time around. 3 out of 5 Asura’s Wrath is not a game for everyone, of that there’s no doubt. It’s heavily scripted to the point where it’s probably more accurate to call it an anime with button prompts with a few short gameplay sections than to call it a video game. For some people, that’s a massive cardinal sin, and those people are entitled to their opinions, but I would stress they give the game a chance anyway. It’s the kind of premise that sounds like hot garbage when written down or spoken out of context, but actually playing the game has turned many into believers. It’s easily one of the best looking games of the year, with an excellent story, excellent writing and fantastic presentation all around, with only the shallow gameplay holding it back. Sometimes it’s nice to experiment and take a chance on something interesting and unique, and, love it or hate it, there’s few games on the market right now more unique than Asura’s Wrath, and that alone should make it worthy of your attention, at least for a demo. 4 out of 5 Category:Blog posts